OVERVIEW: In a scarred and brutal future, The United
Commonwealth teeters on the brink of all-out civil war. The rebel resistance
plots against a government that rules with cruelty and cunning. Gifted student
and Testing survivor Cia Vale vows to fight. But she can't do it alone. This is
the chance to lead that Cia has trained for - but who will follow? Plunging
through layers of danger and deception, Cia must risk the lives of those she
loves - and gamble on the loyalty of her lethal classmates.

FORMAT: Graduation Day is the final book in
The Testing Series. It is a YA dystopian novel with action, adventure,
political intrigue, and a revolution. It stands at 304 pages and was published
June 17, 2014 Houghton Miffin Books for Children.

ANALYSIS: I have
followed The Testing Series by Joelle Charbonneau since the first novel was
released in 2013. The first novel, The Testing, was alright, but didn't
really separate itself from the pack of YA dystopian novels that have been
released in the wake of the popularity of The Hunger Games.

The second novel, Independent Study, took the series
to another level and it seemed that some elements – character development and
plot progress – took a back seat. However, despite the problems with Independent
Study, I continued the series to see how it ended. So, does Graduation
Day redeem the series? Overall, I would have to say no.

Graduation Day is the final chapter in The Testing Series.
Unfortunately, instead of providing closure and a sense of completion, it
leaves readers with a disappointed feeling and a total sense of incompletion.

Even though The Testing Series didn't really stand out from
other dystopian novels, I still had high hopes that the series would ultimately
end on a high note. Graduation Day, which should have been amazing by all accounts,
was confusing and a bit weighted down. It moved at a sluggish pace and there
was a lot of unnecessary plot twists thrown into the mix.

One of the biggest drawbacks of Graduation Day was the
constant need to have every character or group comes across mysterious by
questioning their motives or alliances. Cia, our main character, is constantly
questioning everyone on whether they are on her side or against her. Keeping
characters a mystery does add to the plot, but it started to come across that
every person was having their intentions questioned just to drag things out a
big longer. This was pretty obvious when established main characters, who were
obviously on Cia's side, were being questioned.

There was also a huge plot issue which made it extremely
difficult for me to overlook. The plot of Graduation Day revolves around the
President entrusting Cia with the task of saving the world. Why does she do
this? She does this because there isn't one person in the entire world that the
President trusts and Cia, a random teenager she has known for 2 weeks (tops),
is the only person she can trust.

The minute this became a focal point of the novel, it just
made it difficult for me. I struggle to see how someone the President barely
knew could be so important to the well-being of the entire world. I understand
sometimes you have to suspend reality to enjoy books, but this was just too
much. Of course, this could also result from my issues with Independent
Study – where Cia was all-knowing, all wonderful, and just perfect in
every way.

That leaves me with the ending. I am not sure if the book
was ended in a way that would allow for more books to be written or what the
thought process was, but there was no closure. I walked away thinking 'that is
it? It can't possibly be it.' There is a lot that is unresolved and really like
the book just sort of ends.

I will say that Joelle Charbonneau can write some pretty
good, intense action scenes. It was one of the things that kept me coming back
to the series. Unfortunately, the rather weak character-building and seemingly
random/unnecessary plot twists allowed the action scenes to take a back seat.

The Testing Series might be good for its intended audience.
However, if you are looking for something unique or even a slight twist on the dystopian
genre, it isn't going to provide it. It keeps its cookie cutter dystopian
classification all the way to the end.

Overall, The Testing Series was a disappointing read. When I
completed the first book, I just enjoyed it. The second book left me confused
and rather unsure of what to feel, but this third – and final – chapter confirmed
that this series just didn't end well. I didn't feel anger or outrage, I just felt
a sense of 'good it is over' and of course I felt disappointment. I wouldn't
discourage people from reading the series, but I don't know if I'd readily
recommend it to people either.